


Working Partnership

by Spurlunk



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Guns, Slow Dancing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-07
Updated: 2014-12-07
Packaged: 2018-02-28 11:18:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2730458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spurlunk/pseuds/Spurlunk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a notoriously hard to please head of a trust threatens to withdraw her substantial investment from Tony Stark's company, Rhodey suggests that he and Pepper pretend to date so that Tony can prove he is a responsible, mature individual who can be trusted and relied on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Working Partnership

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU that takes place before the Iron Man movies, and may diverge from canon in places.

In the early days, Pepper Potts seriously considered quitting her job  at least three times a week. She may have been working for one of the richest, brightest men on the planet, but at least 85% of the time he was such a jackass. He drank too much, he was spoiled, he slept with more women (and sometimes men) than she could count, and he was generally just a very difficult person to  work for. What kept her going were two things - the 15% of the time Tony Stark wasn't a jackass, and his best friend Jim Rhodes.

Rhodey meant a lot to Pepper in those first few months. They didn't have much in common at first besides Tony Stark, but that was enough. They liked each other the first time they met, as Pepper recognized a kindred soul, someone who was driven and determined to achieve their goals. That first time they met they only spoke for a few minutes before Tony whisked his friend away, but Pepper got his contact information from Tony and they began a steady correspondence. Emails gave way to phone calls. It wasn't that pepper didn't have friends, but her new job gave her little time to go out with them anymore, and they resented her boss for monopolizing her time so much. Yet talking to Rhodey, she could vent about Tony to someone who really cared about him.

As time went on, Pepper began to settle into her place as Tony's assistant. She prided herself on being the only person who could say no to him; she knew him maybe almost better than he knew himself. Other than a few drunken attempts to get her to sleep with him early on, Tony never tried to get anywhere with her, which she did appreciate. Even Rhodey, despite their friendship and regular phone calls, never tried to make a pass at Pepper. So she was a little taken aback when she got an email from Rhodey one evening, reading it curled on her couch with a glass of wine on a rare night off.

"I know this is a lot to ask, and please feel free to say no. One of the main companies investing in Tony's newest weapon was recently taken over by Michelle Lindner, who as you now is big into feminism and women's rights. She's having some issues with Tony, they met a few weeks ago and he didn't make the greatest impression. I thought I could find Tony a nice girl he can date seriously for a few months, to overhaul his image a little, but I wondered if you would do it. You already know him and he likes you. You don't have to do anything serious, just go on a few dates in public. Feel free to decline, I know this is asking a lot. Either way, sleep on it and let me know."

Pepper closed her laptop. She needed another glass of wine. Maybe even another bottle. This was not what she had signed up for.

X

The next day, Rhodey spent the whole afternoon with Tony. Pepper took advantage of this time where she didn't have to worry about Tony doing anything too stupid to himself or others to get ahead on some work, and when she walked into the large, open-concept living room, Rhodey was sitting across from him over the coffee table, arguing intently.

For once in his life, Tony actually seemed to be paying attention.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I need to - " Pepper stopped talking when both men just turned to look at her.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Tony's taking you out tonight, do you have a dress or should we get you one?" Rhodey asked.

"Do we really have to do this?" Tony asked.

"You have Tony's account information, right?" Rhodey asked her, ignoring his friend completely. Pepper almost rolled her eyes.

"Of course," she said.

"Use that to go buy yourself a dress. Take one of the cars, and be back here by seven. I'll have Tony ready, and I'll make the reservations and call some paparazzi. Okay?" he asked.

"I still don't see why we have to date - "

Pepper was a little offended by Tony's cranky mood, but she decided not to let it bother her. At least she'd get a nice dress and a fancy dinner out of it. She handed Rhodey a folder and told him to make sure that Tony read the information within before the next morning so that he was ready for the meeting with a contractor, and then she was out the door.

Dinner was a lot more painless than Pepper thought it would be. Tony wore a suit, Pepper wore a blue dress she had bought, and with the combined forces of Tony Stark's charm and Pepper's unflappability, she thought the two of them did a pretty good job of pretending to be a couple. Pepper pretended to avoid the paparazzi outside the door and pulled Tony in after he posed for a few pictures, and then they sat outside, for a romantic candlelit dinner. Their dinner conversation, which looked like whispers and giggles over salmon and wine, was actually Tony complaining about the food and Pepper telling him to stop whining so that they could just get through this. At the end of the evening they got in the car together, but Tony went out for drinks and Pepper asked the driver just to take her home. She was tired and it was getting late. Tony may not have work to get up for in the morning, but that was only  because it was Pepper's job to be up early and do all of that for him. As she changed out of the dress and got into bed, Pepper told herself that pretending to date her boss wasn't so bad. She could do this. It was only temporary.

X

The next morning, Pepper slept through her alarm and only woke up when her phone rang. She blearily noticed the time and almost panicked. Then she saw that it was her mother calling, and she really panicked.

"Hello?" she said, clearing her throat a couple of times.

"Hello, Pepper? Did I wake you?"

"No, it's fine, I was about to leave for work."

"You're still working for that Tony Stark?" she asked.

"Yes. I only just started."

"Because your sister saw an article online with the pictures of the two of you at a fancy restaurant last night, and it's not a good idea to date your boss. Work relationships never last."

"Mom, I don't - it's not a big deal. It was just a date. I'm going to be late for work."

"Be careful, honey, okay? Tony Stark has a reputation, and I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Make him buy you diamonds! Make him get you a new car!" Pepper could hear her sister yell in the background.

"I have to go, I'll call you later, tell Jessica next time I see her I'm going to smack her."

"Hey now, girls, stop that. Jessica, go get ready for school. Take care, sweetie, and call me when you have more time. Bye!"

"Bye," Pepper said. She started to go get ready as fast as she could, but halfway through she changed her mind and took her time. She was pretending to date the man, he could cut her some slack in other areas. When she got to Tony Stark's house, though, he was too busy to notice that she was even there. She had to walk past Tony kissing a leggy brunette goodbye at the door. When she left, Tony went into the kitchen to find some coffee. Pepper usually got the coffee started before Tony even woke up, but this time he had to make it himself. His hair was disheveled and he was wearing a gray T-shirt that was stained with grease and dirt. Not quite the same Tony Stark she had gone out with last night.

Pepper made sure the front door was shut and followed Tony into the kitchen.

"Hey, why isn't there any coffee?" he asked crankily.

"If we're going to date, I have a couple of rules," Pepper said. Tony groaned and rummaged in the cupboards for the coffee filters.

"You need to be more discreet. I don't want people to think that you're cheating on me. My mom called me this morning, she saw our picture together from last night."

"Whatever, fine, just. Please stop talking," he said, rubbing his temples. Pepper picked up the laptop she did most of her work on and went into the other room. She wanted to investigate more about this investor, Michelle Lindner, that they were trying to please. She also needed to schedule some charity events. Tony Stark's image could always use some work, and now that they were trying to make him more appealing, charity certainly wouldn't hurt.

X

Pepper was smart enough to tell Tony Stark to be ready for an event about an hour and a half before he actually needed to be. She didn't even tell him where they were going until he was already in the car. Even though it had only been a few months since she had started working for him, she knew this much.

"There's an after-school program for at-risk kids. You've donated a fair amount of money to get them off the ground, but I thought we could go visit and see if there's anything more specific we can help them out with."

"I don't like kids," Tony grumbled.

"Rhodey will be there. So will photographers. You need to revamp your image, and this is part of it."

"I could be in my workshop inventing a cure for cancer right now."

"You're not an epidemiologist."

"Okay, I could be inventing a robot that could invent a cure for cancer."

"At least try to be nice."

When they arrived at the rec center, Rhodey was already there, waiting for them. A staff member led them inside, where there were a handful of kids drawing or playing quietly.

"There are more kids, right?" Tony asked, after some cursory small talk and polite chit-chat.

"Yes, most of them are outside, we usually get them to run around for a half hour or so before we do anything just so that they can blow off some steam. Why don't you come outside and meet some of them?"

Tony looked back and the look in his eyes pleaded for Pepper to rescue him, but she chose to ignore him completely. She found one of the other volunteers who worked there and began asking questions about what specifically the program needed that they couldn't do because of a lack of resources.

"We'd love to do classes. Right now we just do what we can with what we have, and the money that Mr. Stark donated did allow us to hire more people so that we could open our program to more kids, but I know that one of the volunteers wants to do a cooking class, and I know someone who would teach karate to the kids if we paid him."

"I'll make sure to let Mr. Stark know. There's no kitchen in here, is there?"

"No ma'am."

"Alright, I'm going to see if we can find a contractor and get Mr. Stark to persuade them to donate time and resources to build you all a kitchen. We'll make it happen."

"Really?"

Pepper nodded, smiling. Sometimes she didn't mind her job too much. Rhodey walked over and she let him lead her over to the window that overlooked the playground outside.

"Does Tony know you're volunteering him to do all of that?" he asked.

"No, but you said he needed to shake up his image. This is perfect."

"You gonna rescue him?" he asked. Pepper followed his gaze outside. There were kids running everywhere, and three or four volunteers and workers making sure none of them hurt themselves or each other. She finally spotted Tony sitting under one of the swings with three little girls surrounding him, talking with each other and looking intently at him every now and then.

"No. What are those girls doing to him?"

"They said something about a makeover. Tony would normally never stand for any of this but you and I both have impressed upon him the importance of good publicity right now."

"He needs to work for it." Pepper said. Rhodey smiled, and she grinned back, a touch of evil in her smile.

"I've created a monster."

X

Pepper loved her family, she really did. It was just her mom and her sister, but they were very important to her and she cared about them a lot. However, there were some times that they really got on her nerves, and this was one of them.

"You mean Jessica's coming over for the weekend now? Is she - is that her at the door?" Pepper said on the phone to her mother.

"I'm sorry, I would have told you but she wanted it to be a surprise. Then I thought you would probably rather know, so I'm calling you, but she's already there I guess - "

"Thanks Mom. I'll talk to you later." Pepper said, hanging up the phone and going to answer the door. There was Jessica, cute and bouncy and equal parts annoying and adorable. She was wearing a lavender sweatshirt and had a backpack with her, which meant she was staying for at least a few days. Normally Pepper would be pleased to have her favorite sister stay with her but...

"Hey Pepper! Surprise!"

"Jessica! It's so good to see you!" Pepper replied, hugging her little sister tight.

"I have Monday off school for a teacher in-service day so Mom said I could come visit you for the weekend."

"That's great, I'm so glad you're here, come in, put your stuff down," Pepper said. She knew that Jessica wanted to know all about her relationship with Tony Stark, but she made sure to ask about Jessica's life first. She wanted to know what her sister had been up to. Soon enough though, she ran out of things to ask, and the conversation turned in the direction she had predicted it would.

"So? Tell me all about your billionaire boyfriend, Pepper!" Jessica said, curling up on the couch with her legs beneath her, blue eyes wide and eager.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that. Tomorrow is Sunday, so I'm free all day and we can hang out, but tonight I have a thing."

"A date? With Tony Stark?"

"Kind of. There's a charity gala he was invited to, and I have to go with him. It's at a fancy hotel downtown, so I have to go get another dress and some shoes, and I have to be over at his house an hour beforehand because knowing Tony he completely forgot that this thing is even happening, and I won't be home till late - I don't want to leave you here alone, after you came all this way to spend time with me."

Jessica's face fell for a moment, but then it lit right up again.

"I know! Let me go with you! I didn't bring any fancy clothes, but if you're getting something I can just get something too! Come on, I've never been to a charity gala before, I won't bother you, I promise I'll be sophisticated and cool," she said, the pleading in her voice obvious.

"If you make puppy dog eyes I'm going to smother you with a pillow." Pepper said.

"So that's a yes then?"

"Just let me go change out of my pajamas and we'll go shopping."

"Yesss!" Jessica said, pumping her fist.

"Don't try to get me to buy a dress Mom wouldn't let you wear! People will take our picture, and I don't want her to call me yelling at me for letting you wear something she thinks is inappropriate!" Pepper called out.

"Yeah, yeah. What's our budget? How much does Tony Stark pay you anyway?"

"None of your business!"

Pepper and Jessica spent a fun couple of hours dress shopping. Pepper chose a green dress, so dark it almost seemed black, and Jessica picked a sparkly turquoise strapless one. Pepper allowed her to get it only if she promised to have a shawl or shrug draped over her shoulders, and Jessica rolled her eyes but agreed. Jessica wanted to buy shoes too, but Pepper said she could borrow one of hers instead. Once they were done, they had just enough time to grab a frozen yogurt together as a light snack before heading back to Pepper's apartment to get ready. Her home was small, and the two of them jostled for position in front of the mirror as they did their hair and makeup. When they were all done, Jessica insisted on a picture.

"We look awesome! I'm putting this on Facebook."

"Fine, but not now. We have to go."

"It's only six! You said this doesn't even start till eight!"

"Why do you think I made you get ready so early? It's going to take half an hour to get to the Stark place, and then another forty minutes at least for me to get Tony in the car. Come on, let's go."

Pepper had asked Tony's driver to bring the car to her place, and he was waiting outside when they went down. He raised his eyebrows when he saw that she wasn't alone, but said nothing other than a curt 'good evening', and held the door for them.

"This is so cool, I can't believe I'm going to a fancy party with Tony Stark's girlfriend!"

"I'm your sister too."

"Duh."

When they got to the Stark mansion, Pepper asked Jessica to just wait in the car. She didn't seem to like that much, but she didn't push her luck, and much to Pepper's surprise, Tony was already ready and waiting in the front hall, trying to get the cufflinks into his sleeves.

"Hey! Good, you're here. Help me get these in, would you?" he asked.

"You're ready on time!" she said.

"No need to sound so shocked. Come on, I can't do this left-handed," he replied. She sighed and walked over, tucking her clutch under her arm and fixing his cuffs. He smiled his annoying charming smile at her exasperation, and she rolled her eyes.

"Rolling your eyes at your boss? Uncool."

"We've got another guest coming with us to this."

"We do?"

"My sister came to town for the weekend, and I didn't want to leave her alone. Be nice to her."

"Is she as beautiful as you?" Tony asked.

"She's seventeen," Pepper replied, and it wasn't until she was almost all the way back to the car that she realized that he'd called her beautiful.

X

Michelle Lindner was one of the guests at the event. Pepper knew that she and Tony would have to go talk to her, but they didn't get a chance to do so for the first half of the event, which consisted mostly of dinner and speeches. Dinner was the sort of food that looked very pretty but didn't actually fill anyone up. Jessica borrowed Pepper's clutch and stole the single granola bar she saved in there for emergencies.

"This is an emergency!" Jessica reasoned, and Pepper thought that sure, this counted. She played the role of the attentive but assertive girlfriend as various important people came up to greet Tony, and was extremely grateful when Rhodey showed up after a while and sat down at their table on the other side of Jessica.

"Hi, I'm Jim Rhodes, a friend of Tony and Pepper's," he said, shaking her hand.

"I'm Jessica. I'm Pepper's sister. I just came to visit for the weekend."

"She wanted to come," Pepper said, and Rhodey nodded.

"It's very nice to meet you. Pepper, Ms. Lindner's here."

"I know."

"Okay. Jessica, you look beautiful in that dress. It's a great color."

"Thank you! Pepper helped me pick it out. I really like the sparkle."

"It's very sparkly."

Pepper left Rhodey and Jessica to their conversation about sparkles and took advantage of the brief lull in Tony's conversation to stand up and take his arm.

"I'm very sorry to interrupt, but I need to steal Tony for a moment, we'll be back soon, I promise," Pepper said, standing up and taking Tony with her. He put his hand on the small of her back and whispered in her ear as they walked across the room.

"What was that all about?" he asked.

"You need to go introduce me to Michelle Lindner."

"Who?"

"The CEO of Stone Trust! The woman who wanted to withdraw her investment in your company? The woman who we're trying to change your image for? The reason I'm pretending to date you!!"

"Okay, okay, I get it, calm down, she's right - Michelle! Hi, it's nice to see you again, you're looking particularly stunning tonight - " Tony began, and Pepper put her arm around his waist so that she could pinch him, hard.

"This is my girlfriend, Pepper Potts," he said, wincing a little.

"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Lindner."

"You too, Ms. Potts. You work for Mr. Stark, am I correct?" she asked. Michelle Lindner was tall and striking, with tan skin and black hair. She was Chinese, but her parents were white, and she was very involved in organizations for transracial adoptees. She was an outspoken feminist, and she was known to be hard to please. She was in an on again off again relationship with the lead singer of a prominent rock band that had been big about twenty years ago, and still was with people Pepper's mother's age. That was pretty much all she knew about her. She was notoriously private.

"Yes, I do. I'm his assistant."

"A secretary then. Isn't it a little cliché? Even for you, Tony?"

"I - I don't - "

It wasn't that Tony Stark didn't know what to say, Pepper knew he had about two dozen retorts at the ready, but he also had Pepper standing right next to him reminding him with her presence that they were here to make Michelle like him, not hate him even more than she already did.

"Well, it was nice to meet you Ms. Potts." Michelle Lindner said, and walked off. Pepper and Tony retreated back to their table, where they didn't have a chance to talk, because there were more people eagerly demanding their attention yet again.

Once most people were finished with dinner, the live band started performing, and couples began to fill the floor.

"Care to dance?" Tony asked Jessica, who beamed and nodded, jumping to her feet and taking his hand. Rhodey looked at Pepper, who nodded, and the two of them went off as well. Pepper wasn't much of a dancer, but she knew enough not to embarrass herself.

"So how did it go with Michelle Lindner?" he asked.

"Not so great. She pretty much hates Tony. I don't really know if there's anything he can do that will change her mind."

"Well, we can keep working on it. Sorry for making you keep up this charade." Rhodey said.

"Don't apologize, I didn't have to say yes. Thanks for keeping my sister company."

"She's great. I have a niece who's seven, and I hope she grows up to be like Jessica someday."

"I'll make sure to tell her that."

They danced together in companionable silence until the end of the song, when Tony and Jessica made their way over, and Tony asked Pepper to dance. She hesitated.

"Come on, we're supposed to be dating, it'd be weird if we didn't. What, are you afraid I'll step on you? I'm a great dancer."

"He is, he only stepped on my foot twice," Jessica said in a stage whisper. Pepper laughed.

"You brat," Tony said, and Jessica went to dance with Rhodey instead. Pepper tried not to think about how nice it felt to dance with Tony. They moved together like they just fit perfectly. She was pretty sure that even if they hadn't won over the one woman they were trying to impress, at least they were selling the whole dating thing pretty well. They began to get closer to each other almost without realizing it, as if they were pulled by a magnetic force, but then Pepper pulled back.

"Sorry," Tony said. Pepper felt a little flustered. She wasn't quite sure what was happening, and even if she could admit it to herself, she didn't want to. She let go of Tony's hand and stepped back.

"I'm going to go to the restroom. Excuse me," she said, and fled. Pepper being Pepper, however, only those close to her would know that she was fleeing and not simply walking calmly to reapply her makeup.

Pepper went into a stall and sat there until her heart stopped beating so fast. She flushed the toilet so that anyone else in there wouldn't think she was weird, and then went to wash her hands and fix her makeup. It took her a moment, but she realized that the woman standing next to her was none other than Michelle Lindner. They shared a glance in the mirror, and then Pepper turned sideways so that she was facing her.

"I completely understand why you don't like Tony Stark," Pepper said.

"Oh do you?" Michelle replied, reapplying eyeliner.

"I know how he comes across. He parties, he drinks, he sleeps around - well, he used to, anyway. The thing is though, there's so much more to him than that," she said.

"Yes, he's a genius, I know. He won't hesitate to remind the entire world of that fact every chance he gets."

"It's not bragging though. He's not making himself sound bigger and better than he is. He really is that smart. But there's more to him than that, he's not just some rich asshole. He's got such a big heart, and he's so kind and passionate about what he loves. He's patient. Not always, but when it matters he is. And if he cares about you, well he'd do anything for you. When he channels his passion, he accomplishes great things. I really think that if you knew him better, if you tried to get to know him beyond the superficial side that you read about in the newspapers, you'd - well, I don't think you'd like him, but you'd see his potential. You'd understand why you should continue to invest in his company." Pepper said. She had to stop there, because she needed to breathe. Then she heard a knock on the bathroom door.

"Pepper? Are you in there?"

It was Tony. She had no idea how long he had been standing at the door.

"Better go see what he wants," Michelle said, but for the first time all night, she was smiling.

"What?" Pepper said to Tony as she walked out of the bathroom, nearly banging the door in his face.

"Nothing, I thought you got sick or something, you rushed off so fast," he said as they walked back onto the dance floor.

"I'm not sick, I'm fine."

"Okay. Good."

X

The rest of the night, Pepper pulled back. She didn't act cold or anything like that, but she thought it might be best if she kept some distance from Tony so that he didn't get the wrong idea. She still played the role of the girlfriend, but she spent more time talking to her sister and keeping her company. When the evening was finally winding down, Rhodey said he'd come on his motorcycle and would get home on his own. He hugged Jessica goodbye, the two of them got along well and were already friends. Tony, Pepper and Jessica piled into the limo, and Tony asked if Pepper wanted to go to another party he knew about that wasn't too far from here.

"No, thank you," she said.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked.

"No, it's fine, I just want to go home, it's getting late for Jessica and I need to get ready for the meeting with Michelle Lindner on Monday," Pepper said. Jessica was about to protest that she wasn't a baby and she could stay out late but Pepper gave her a look before she could, and Tony didn't say anything about the fact that it was Saturday night and Pepper had all day tomorrow to get ready for the meeting.

"Right. The meeting. After that we can end this," he said.

"Yes. Rhodey wants us to be careful about how we break up though, because he doesn't want you to seem like the bad guy. It has to be mutual."

"You two are breaking up?" Jessica asked.

"Oh. Maybe," Pepper said. She'd forgotten that Jessica didn't know. They had pulled up in front of Pepper's building, and Tony got out so that they could go past him. He paused for a minute, and she grabbed her sister's arm, pulling her with her.

"See you later, Mr. Stark, have a good weekend," she said, and Jessica called out a "Bye Mr. Stark!" before the two of them went inside.

Sunday was nice. Pepper got her mind off of her brief confusion by taking Jessica out to go watch a movie and have lunch at the mall before window-shopping. Jessica had to take a bus to get home before it was too late, because even though she had Monday off school their mother said she needed to be back to do some homework. Pepper was going to just drop Jessica off at the station, but they had a good half an hour to spare so she waited with her at the terminal.

"Don't worry, I'll tell mom not to worry about your new boyfriend."

"What?" Pepper said.

"Tony Stark! I'll say that he might sound like he's not the guy for you based on what you see online or in the magazines but I met him and I approve. He didn't get drunk or flirt with any other women. You can tell he likes you."

"Sure, okay," Pepper said. She didn't have the energy to argue about that last part.

"You're not going to break up, right? You shouldn't. You were talking about it but I think you should just get together with him and work out whatever problems you had. I know that dating your boss is weird, so he should just promote you."

"I can't just ask him to promote me."

"Well, at least you should get a raise."

"Your bus is here."

"No it's not."

"Well I wish it was!" Pepper said. Jessica made a face and hit her. Pepper was about to hit her back before she made herself remember that she was an adult and above such things. She hugged her sister goodbye before she left and told her to visit again but call first next time.

On Monday, the meeting with Michelle Lindner went surprisingly well. Pepper met Tony ahead of time and clearly he understood the gravity of the situation as he was ready to go well ahead of the time they were scheduled to meet. In the conference room filled with important people who were in charge of these sort of things, the people who Tony was supposed to know the names of but Pepper actually did, Michelle Lindner made her decision. She was going to lower the amount of money that her company normally invested, but only by a quarter, which wasn't so bad when considering the fact that initially they thought she was going to retract her investment entirely. Tony thanked her profusely and with his usual charming smile promised her that she would be impressed with what he could produce and would most definitely end up increasing her investment in the future. She just replied with a cool 'we'll see' and nodded at Pepper before walking out. Pepper exhaled when she left, the only outward sign of the anxiety that had been bubbling at the pit of her stomach since she'd woken up that morning.

"Not bad, huh?" Tony said, grinning at her. She smiled at him, but she wasn't sure if it worked very well.

"Mr. Stark, since we've got you here, we're going to need you to go to the bank so that we can get this worked out, if you don't mind."

"Ms. Potts can't take care of it?"

"No, if she could, no doubt it would be finished already. Your presence is necessary."

"We'll just stop over at the bank on the way back, it won't take more than a few minutes," Pepper said, and Tony nodded, following her out of the room.

_X_

Tony was flirting with the flustered bank teller who had asked him for an autograph when it happened. Three men came in, ski masks over their faces and guns in their hands.

"Everyone get down on the floor, now!" one of them yelled, and another calmly shot the security guard by the door in the chest. People started screaming and yelling, and the first thing Pepper thought to do was to grab Tony's arm.

"Don't do anything stupid, please," she whispered as the two of them knelt down onto the marble floor.

"Move! To the middle of the room, here, now! No messing around!" one of the men said, pointing with his gun as the other man guarded the door and the third went to harass the bank tellers. Pepper and Tony joined the others in the middle of the room, in a kind of circle. The man in the gray sweatshirt that Pepper had noticed earlier was on Tony's other side, and the bank teller Tony had been flirting with was on Pepper's other side. She had removed her nametag so there was no way anyone would know she was an employee and not a customer.  Pepper was hoping and praying that no one else recognized that Tony was Tony Stark, because that was just going to cause more trouble. She was also completely terrified. Pepper was looking around the bank, trying to figure out if there was any way she could make a run for it, when she noticed Tony shifting and moving. He was playing with his phone, texting someone.

"Put it away!" she hissed, and he shoved it back in his pocket just as one of the men came up to them, tossing a trash bag in the center of their misshapen circle.

"All of your valuables, in there, now. Jewelry, wallet, phone, everything," he said, and the half-dozen hostages began passing the bag around, dropping their phones and wallets in. The man was watching them carefully.

"Earrings! Take them off," he said to one terrified older woman, pointing his gun at her face as she obeyed, her hands shaking. When the bag came to Tony, he pulled out his phone and took off his watch, tossing both of them in. Pepper took off her earrings and necklace, as well as her wallet, phone, and bracelet, before passing it on to the woman on her other side. 

"Hey! You. Take off that necklace," the man said, pointing his gun at Pepper's face. She held her hands up.

"What necklace, I already took mine off, I don't have anything - " she started, but he used the gun to pull out the simple chain she wore under her blouse.

"Take it off, or I'll take it off myself," he said.

"It's not worth anything, it's not, it's important to me, please - "

Pepper saw Tony start to move and the man on his side pull him forcefully down as the man yanked Pepper up. She was trying very hard not to cry or tremble.

"It's not worth anything, I gave you everything else I have - "

Then there was a shot; it was so loud Pepper barely even noticed when her necklace was yanked forcefully off her neck and she was shoved back to the floor. She couldn't hear anything, she just heard a deafening silence and she was even a little dazed. She glanced around and saw a bullet hole in the wooden desk a few yards away, he must have shot it as a warning. She was fine, nothing hurt, but she thought she might be hyperventilating.

"Tony? " she said, but she couldn't hear herself saying it, and she looked over and there he was, reaching out to grab her hand. He was saying something but she couldn't hear him and she was no good at reading lips, but then she glanced over his head at the window and noticed red and blue police lights flashing outside. Help was here. Maybe everything was going to be okay.

After a few moments, the hearing in Pepper's ears began to come back, though everything still sounded kind of fuzzy and muffled, like she had earplugs in.

"Are you okay? Pepper?" Tony asked, and she nodded.

"I'm fine. The necklace - my father gave it to me."

"I'll get it back."

"No. Stay quiet and don't do anything stupid," she said. He had let go of her hand, and he rolled his eyes.

"You never let me do anything fun."

Something was happening over at the windows where the bank tellers sat. One of the men was stuffing a bag full of cash, which was so odd and archaic Pepper thought it should be in a movie instead of real life. Wasn't identity theft more lucrative nowadays? The other man who was supposed to be guarding them had pulled out his own phone and called out to his companion.

"Hey, the cops are out there, we need to move."

"It says on Twitter Tony Stark is in here."

"The Tony Stark?"

"Yeah. Bet we can get a hell of a lot more money in ransom for him than we will at this bank."

Pepper felt her stomach drop and she grabbed Tony's hand again. He kept his head down, looking at the floor, and she held her breath as the man came back to them and started looking at everyone's face more carefully. Then he yanked Tony's head up by the hair, and he got to his feet, protesting the whole time.

"Ow, lay off the hair, jeez, it's me, I'm Tony Stark, can you let go already?" he said, and Pepper curled her hands into fists to keep herself from moving or crying out. The man who had been on the other side of Tony put his hand on her shoulder and she looked at him. He had a kind expression on his face and she tried to smile but it didn't really work.

"Let's go!" the man holding Tony said, and he didn't even glance back at her as the other men followed the two of them out the back of the bank towards what Pepper could assume was an employee break room. The security guard who had been shot and left where he fell near the front door had a pool of dark blood slowly spreading out beneath him. He hadn't moved, she was almost sure he was dead.

"What now?" the bank teller on Pepper's other side whispered. Pepper was annoyed briefly, because why was she asking her, she didn't work here, she didn't know their emergency procedure, but she bit her tongue.

"Now we wait for five minutes to see if they come back, and then we walk out the front door, very slowly so that nobody shoots us." Pepper said. She was always good at compartmentalizing and keeping calm during stressful situations, it was nice to know that working for Tony Stark had been good for something. They all waited five minutes, and then walked out the doors, slowly and with their hands up as there were police everywhere. Most of the hostages were immediately snapped up by police wanting to take their statements or paramedics who wanted to see if they were alright,  but Pepper was frantically looking around, only one thing on her mind. Someone put their arm on her shoulder, and she looked over to see that it was the man in the gray sweatshirt.

"Hey, you should go get checked out, that gunshot went off close to your ear and you might have hearing damage. You could be in shock - "

"I'm fine, thank you," Pepper said, and wove through the crowd until she found a police officer who didn't seem to be doing anything.

"I need to talk to the police chief, or whoever is in charge here," she said, with the businesslike voice she used to get what she wanted. It was very effective, usually.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Pepper Potts, I was in the bank and my boss, Tony Stark, was taken hostage. I don't have a phone and I need to make an urgent phone call," she said.

"Yes ma'am, I'll take you right to her," he said, and led the way to an older woman who was listening intently as a couple of men in suits explained something to her. Pepper introduced herself again, and explained her situation. She was given a cell phone and she stepped away for some privacy, dialing the only number she had memorized. He picked up on the first ring.

"Jim? Rhodey?" she said, her voice breaking a little.

"Pepper! Pepper, are you okay? What's going on? I saw that you and Tony were involved in the bank hostage situation but I wasn't sure if it was true - "

"I'm fine but they took him, they took Tony, you need to come get him back - "

"I'll be there as soon as I can, okay? Just hold on, I'll be right there," he said, and hung up. Pepper composed herself and then took the phone over to the other hostages so that they could call their families and let them know they were alright. Pepper stood leaning against one of the ambulances, her whole body taut like a spring. She couldn't relax, not with the buzzing in her ear and the knowledge that Tony Stark was out there, being held by men who didn't think twice about killing innocent people.

When Rhodey showed up, he came to her before he went to talk to the police, wrapping her in a tight hug, his hand on the back of her head.

"Go home, Pepper," he said.

"No, no, I want to stay here, I want to help you find Tony and bring him back - "

"Thank you, but I'm going to go talk to the police chief, and they'll do whatever we need to do. You've been through an ordeal. Go home, I'll get you a cab, and I promise I will tell you as soon as I hear something, okay? Call a friend to stay with you," he said. You are my only friend besides Tony, she wanted to say, but it just sounded pathetic so she didn't.

Pepper let him put her in a cab and she walked up the stairs to her small apartment as if she was in a dream. She took off her shoes and sat down on her couch, turning on the TV and keeping it on the local news channel, which had suspended all programming to focus on the currently unfolding situation with the bank robbery turned hostage situation turned kidnapping. Pepper would be angry at the police for missing the bank robber's escape out the back of the bank, she would be frightened and worried, but she couldn't think, she couldn't sit still, she couldn't even go wash up or eat something. She thought she might throw up. She couldn't get herself to move from her position on the couch, even though the news was repeating the same thing over and over and it was driving her insane.

There was a knock at the door. Pepper was on her feet in seconds, walking over and glancing through the peephole. She couldn't believe her eyes and she pulled open the door. Tony was standing there, his suit jacket lost somewhere along the way, and his tie rumpled. Rhodey was behind him, looking a little bruised and bloody but smiling.

Pepper just stood there. She honestly was overcome, she didn't know what to do.

"This is your apartment? Really? Don't I pay you enough for a better place?" Tony said, and Pepper let out a sigh of relief, grabbing him in a hug as tight as she could make it. He hesitated a moment before wrapping his arms around her to hug her back. Pepper pulled back for a minute and he just looked at her, and she leaned in to kiss him on the mouth. He kissed her back enthusiastically, and Pepper smiled into it as she heard Rhodey cough loudly behind Tony.

"Get a room!" he said.

"Fine," Tony replied, taking a couple of steps in with Pepper and shutting the door in Rhodey's face. Pepper giggled.

"Oh come on, that's not very nice," she said, and Rhodey banged on the door.

"He's used to it."

"My neighbors will complain."

"You need a nicer place to live anyway."

"Tony!"

"Okay, fine," he said, and opened the door. Rhodey walked in, shutting it behind him, and sat down on the couch.

"Save his life, and this is the thanks I get," he said to Pepper, who smiled.

"Thank you," she said sincerely, squeezing his shoulder as she walked over to sit down on the other side of the couch, leaving Tony the middle. She brought her legs up underneath her and leaned over to his shoulder, and the three of them just sat there in companionable silence, no other noise but the sound of their breathing. Pepper was happy.

 


End file.
